If we were to get something from the game, we had to come out all guns blazing and once again, we did. The first 20 minutes of the second half saw us looking really good, with Wycombe not having a single shot. From Onyedinma’s goal to the penalty, they were soaking up our pressure; they were trying to answer our questions, and that’s how it should be. Plenty of the feedback around me was that we were giving it a good go, pushing forward and working hard. It wasn’t easy – Wycombe’s press was superb, and they are good at breaking up the tempo of the game without being too much like the balls-out time-wasting hounds they once were. Honestly, with the benefit of a night’s sleep, I can’t speak highly enough of their approach or quality. Respect where it is due.
Sean Roughan, who once again turned in an outstanding display, pinged a 70-yard crossfield pass to Dylan Duffy, and the young Irishman almost grabbed us a sensational leveller. Controlling the ball beautifully, he raced into a shooting position and unleashed a great drive, which had Ravizzoli grasping at thin air. Sadly, it was a quarter of an inch too high, striking the crossbar and bouncing back out. A minute later, our press won possession, and Erhahon (again) won the ball, lofting a delicious ball to the back stick for Ben House to gobble up. His header was strong and on target, but Ravizzoli was equal to it, pushing it away. We were knocking on the door, trying hard to get back into the game.
On 65 minutes, I felt there could have been a game-changing moment. The excellent Onyedinma was tripped by Dylan Duffy (never a penalty I cried at the time, obviously wrong having watched back), and Luke Leahy had the chance to make it 3-1. George Wickens, who hadn’t done much wrong in the game, had to step up, and he did, saving with his legs. A roar went up across the ground, a catalyst for a fightback. A missed penalty cost us against Birmingham; could it cost Wycombe against us?
No.
Seven minutes later, a McCleary cross was nodded home from close range by Josh Low. It sucked the life out of me because while they were the better side, 3-1 didn’t feel like a fair portrait of proceedings. Sure, I could maybe handle 2-1, but 3-1? I felt like a gut punch, like someone had not only run over my dog, but was now standing on my doorstep, holding my dog in front of me, laughing about it. I’m sure that’s a bit dramatic, but you know what a few Staropramens can do to you emotionally.
We almost got one back through Darikwa, Ben House again the provider. I know there’s been some discussion about us not shooting enough, Michael mentioned it in his post-match, and I can see the point. However, this one chance could have given us a foothold earlier and it came from House not shooting. It was just two minutes after they scored and House, our leading scorer in the league, lofted a ball to the back stick, but their keeper was, once again, equal to Darikwa’s effort at goal. In terms of xG, it was our best effort in the game.
Even at 3-1, I felt there was a way back into the game, and as they began to manage time a little less subtly, we crept back into the game. Erik Ring came on and looked really lively, and eventually, we found a way through. It looked like a rubbish corner routine, JJ McKiernan’s first touch seemingly being a short delivery, but Montsma stroked it out to Darikwa, and as Cadamarteri held off a defender, our 24/25 Player of the Season (damn, there I go again) rifled a drive into the top corner. Of the five goals, it was the pick of the bunch and I still felt there was something in the game for us.
There wasn’t, and the clear reason was Wycombe’s good game management. I don’t like game management when it’s against us, but as a fan, you love it when it’s you, and they’re good at it. Late subs, an injury, time taken over set pieces, it all added up to kill the last ten minutes. There wasn’t another effort of note, despite impressive cameos from McKiernan and Ring, and my belief gently ebbed away, like the beers as they slowly wore off. Perhaps that’s why I had such a face on leaving the ground, because those nice cold drinks had gone, as had a point that I believe we could have got. Should have got? Perhaps not, the best side won, on xG, on goals and just on being better in both boxes. Outside of that, we matched them, in my opinion, and while I know that’s a good thing, it felt hard to take for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon.
We did play well, but there were a couple of performances that perhaps weren’t quite up to scratch. Their defence bossed Jovon, and as you know, I’m a fan of his, but he didn’t really get a look in. It wasn’t for want of trying, but all four of Wycombe’s attacking options had good games, namely Udoh, Onyedinma, Kone and Humphrys. That wasn’t the case for us; Jovon got a bit lost, and while you always feel there’s something coming from Jack Moylan, some of his decision-making and execution yesterday was below his usual standard. Neither player were poor, but if they’d been at their best, we might have snatched a point. They’re both young and Kone aside, Wycombe’s attackers are experienced and well-versed in games like these. Our boys will learn a lot from this.
Outside of that, it’s hard to say anyone didn’t step up. Sadly, when you’re playing sides like this, you need every player on the A-game, and we just fell short. The truth is, as supporters, I think we looked at the league this season and felt it was going to be tough, but in the main, we’ve managed to match almost every side we’ve played. There’s only been one game we’ve lost that I felt we absolutely deserved to lose (Crawley), and two of our defeats have just been against really good sides. That said, these sides are not unbeatable. Birmingham lost to Shrewsbury this weekend; they’re not invincible.
We’re 16 games in now, a third of the way through the season (if you include play-off semi-finals….), and we’ve seen a little snapshot of the division. We had a good idea of the levels required in August, but now we know the levels, and we know where we are in terms of those levels. I think we’re getting better as the season progresses. Yesterday’s performance was up there with Stockport from a couple of weeks ago; it was another game we looked really good in. The current form isn’t ideal, but a season is 46 games long, and if we keep playing as we did yesterday, there will be more wins than defeats going through to May.
Perhaps, just perhaps, we’re going to start to see the fruits of our labour because I don’t think we’re playing badly right now. Yesterday, we got a glimpse of a side challenging the top two and the outcome of that is we know that while we may be top six challengers, we’re just a little below the level required for the top two. For a club with a budget that sits in the bottom half of the table, I don’t think that is too bad.
Next Page – He’s Back! Bubs is fighting fit again and on hand to produce another great gallery of images for us.
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